The Afterstory
by acquilina
Summary: years after book 3 of Peter & the Starcatcher, george & molly had a kid, he learns about their past when it is forced into the open, and he must help a strange flying boy save the world, and his parents, from the shadows, finding answers along the way
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so, yeah this was a story i started writing that begins after the second book of a series that is a prequel of sorts to the actual story of Peter Pan and the movies and such. Yes, i am aware that they made a fourth book, but at the time it didn't seem like they would, so i wrote this feeling slightly like their ending was rushed. Hence, i was both vindicated and embarrassed as my point was proven because they wrote another book because though my point was proven, my story was now moot. so, in a rebellious rage (not really, a rage takes effort and im lazy), i continued to write this story, hence the length you will see in chapter four, when i was informed of the new book. sad to say, but the length of ch 4 will probably not be seen again, not that you care if you're reading this because you probably just want to get to ch 1. anyways, just to warn you, you kind of have to have read at least the first book to understand what is occuring. if you haven't but still wish to read this, one i love you and two i might write a little summary of the big details that will affect this fanfiction in a different chapter, as a sort of prelude, but it will be a different story on my profile than this one, so look it up if you get confused, this will probably only happen if its requested, though. thats why i called this story "the afterstory" as thats what it is. You could read it without reading the books though, and the most you'll miss out on are probably some horrible pun jokes.

wow, that was long, for those that didn't read that thing right above this, i'll cut to the chase as you are obviously in a hurry:  
this is lighty rated but K+ instead of K because of language, which doesn't get that bad but for over compensation reasons, watever, its K+  
I don't own anything about Peter Pan or any characters in this story except my OCs obviously  
Warnings: possible OOCness, use of OCs but not in a bad way, some minor character bashing might occur but I doubt it, confusion might occur if you haven't read the Peter and the Star-catchers books

A/N: this is the last thing, i promise, but i use the lines feature to mostly signal a change of scene or time jump, but maybe just because something happened and i felt it was necessary, so there! :)

**Ch. 1- The Guests**

_There was going to be another meeting_, thought James.

From the way his father is acting, it will be tomorrow night. James knew he had to participate in, or at least observe this one, whether his father wanted him to or not. George Darling, his father, often held these "business meetings" in the conference room. James had long since discovered that certain business meetings his father holds have nothing to do with normal business at all (unlike the ones his father held in the dining room with his real business partners; those were absolutely uninteresting and dreadfully boring) when he was spying through a rather large and obvious keyhole in the door and was caught by a maid. After receiving a most severe and unpleasant punishment, and being told never to spy on a meeting again, rather than "never spying on a meeting again," the opposite happened. James had decided then that he needed to get into a meeting, whether he was wanted, or not. Though, no matter how he tried, he never could get in. This time, though, he was extremely determined, and extra careful with his back-up plan in case begging and pleading didn't work.

So, on the morning of the meeting, before anyone arrived, James put his begging skills to the test and pleaded using every bit of an excuse that he had. This never works, and today was no different.

"Please, Father! I promise I will behave myself and I won't interrupt anything important and I won't say a single word!" His father put up nothing less than absolute refusal, though he did say, "You will attend these meetings when you are old enough and have learned enough about life." This was the first time James had heard George Darling say no in that particular way, and he almost forgot his plan and decided to wait and study his books until he was old enough to attend the meetings. Almost.

Since James had expected the rejection from his father, he had another way to get to the meeting. _I'm going to wet myself I'm so nervous, _thought James, ashamed. This was one of the very few times that he had ever disobeyed an order from his father, and he knew that if he was caught, the punishment would be unimaginably horrid (and also very painful).

The meetings were held in a building separate from the main house. It is a circular building that could easily be mistaken as servant's quarters. This was obviously the point of the shape and state of the building and the reason his father held the not business, business meetings there. The building was (luckily) in bad need of the repair it was going to get next fall, thus making it far easier to climb. And it isn't like James had never been in the special meeting room. He had gone in there several times after realizing the difference between the two types of meetings his father held. When it is not being used as a meeting room, the inside is rather boring and flat. It was very much like any other room that one would hold any ordinary meetings in. James had noticed one thing, though. The table always had ten chairs set up at it, even though there were only nine people that attend the meeting, including George Darling. There was always one extra chair every single time James looked. Even more interestingly, the extra chair was at the one of the heads of the table. He knows this because, twice, he was allowed to show the guests to the meeting room and see them sit down. He had thought that the chair was for Lord Aster or Bakari, as they were his father's closest friends. But when everyone had finished settling themselves into their seats, the empty seat was always the one at the head of the table, right across from his father, who was always seated at the other head. James thought that maybe the seat was reserved for him when he was allowed to attend the meeting. This was just a childish fantasy that James had, though he secretly let himself believe it. Shows what he knows.

* * *

James was watching through the window when he spotted what he had been waiting for, for almost two hours; four wagons were coming through the gate to enter their estate. George Darling, as a fairly rich man who happened to have quite a few fairly rich friends and a well-established social status in the highest of societies in London, could easily afford an estate. James Darling was, at that moment, running to greet his father's friends and his own as well, though all of them were much older than he. He was extremely excited to see that Sir James's wagon was the first to arrive. He always insisted on being called just plain James, without the title. (James was named after Sir James at George and Molly Darling's insistence)

James ran toward him, and as Sir James knelt down, he received a friendly hug. Sir James had always been a great friend to James, and George Darling has known Sir James ever since they were lads. James had never felt as close to any adult, not including his mother, when she was alive, as he did to Sir James.

He failed in avoiding a huge bear hug from Mr. Ted, who was a rich, and not to mention, very successful merchant who did business across Europe, including London, shipping things in from all over Africa, the Middle East, and India to trade. So successful is he that almost all the noble ladies in high society buy jewelry from him. If you didn't have his jewelry, then you weren't in style. He was also of quite a large build, hence, the reason for James wanting to avoid the bone-crushing embrace. Apparently, he was referred to as Tubby Ted in his days as a lad and his closest and most dear friends still call him that from time to time, as a joke of course.

Then, came Lord Thomas, who James shook hands with. Lord Thomas had always been the shy type of person that didn't like to talk much. James has always liked him well enough, but never knew what to talk about when he was around. Lord Thomas just sort of had that effect on people.

Awhile later, Sir Prentiss showed up. James shook his hand as well as hugged him for he liked Sir Prentiss quite a lot, despite not knowing him very well. He then told everyone that they were to gather in the dining hall before the meeting.

Sir Prentiss smiled, "Ted will be happy, as long as the chef is still the same?" James nodded his confirmation. "Then thank goodness the missus isn't here!" James smiled, everyone knew of Mr. Ted's love of food, and pretty chefs. However, they also knew that Mr. Ted's wife did NOT like pretty chefs, simply because she was, what you might call, a jealous woman. Some things never change, and a great example of that would be Mr. Ted's love for food, and pretty chefs, and his jealous wife.

None of the first four wagons' inhabitants had last names and that was most certainly not the only strange thing about them. There were also rumors that they were all orphans, and to prove this fact all the more, no one has ever seen their parents. This didn't bother James in the least, though whenever these meetings were held, there was always a torrent of gossip in the servant's quarters. Most of these rumors frequently include the fact that many speculated as to where the four young men originated from, and how they came to know each other as old friends would. Also, some wondered why, off and on, they would get this sad, distant look, like they were millions of miles away. Luckily, the people who wondered this didn't know how right they were. James seriously doubted the whole orphanage rumor and completely ignored the gossip. After all, his father would most definitely not be friends with some poor orphan kids, and he certainly wouldn't have associated with them when they were boys. _I know I wouldn't, _thought James, thinking of some peasant orphans he had seen on the street before. He remembered thinking that they were poor disgusting and dirty creatures, and he pitied them, but to be friends with them had never even crossed his mind. He also had trouble imagining his role model, Sir James, being one of those filthy creatures. James thought this way simply because he wasn't taught any other way to think. It isn't that he was purposefully being cruel; it was just the way he was brought up as the first and only son of a rich lord, not to mention the lack of his mother or a female influence on his life.

James was devastated to the point of almost tearing up to find out that Bakari, the old Egyptian that his father was friends with, wasn't going to make it to the meeting due to some business in Egypt that he had to take care of. Bakari fascinated James because he was a foreigner and he always brought souvenirs for James. The souvenirs are mostly toys that Egyptian kids play with, so James always enjoys showing them off to his school friends.

Since Bakari wasn't coming, only the Asters and Alf were left to arrive, and while he was deep in thought, they were already pulling up the driveway. The Asters always gave Alf a ride, since he wasn't rich, nor did he own a wagon. Alf came walking up to James, laughing and saying loudly, "Dis place hadn't changed a'bit!" James ran down to meet him and received a handshake that nearly ripped his arm right off. Alf was a large sailor, and even though he is very old and his back gives him pains, he is a very skilled and powerful man as a result of the heavy lifting and precise work that comes with his job. He never hugged young boys because of the self-established rule that it made them into soft men. (thus the reason he received an arm-wrenching handshake instead of an, what James thought was sure to be, extremely powerful bear hug). James had thought that there might be another reason, though because Alf is such a kind person and it isn't his buisness, he didn't think too hard about it since everybody has their little quirks, and is entitled to their own opinion. You might be wondering what a sailor was doing in a lord's meeting, but James didn't rightly know, only heard rumors every now and then. The rumors were only that, rumors, and incorrect ones, but the truth, again that James does not know, is that Alf is an informant on the happenings of the more common side of Europe and more specifically London, including the backwaters and criminal underside as well. How does Alf has access to this particularly shady information you might ask? That's a surprise for later, but for now, it's one of the few benefits from his past. He has a network of informants and he uses them.

Now James was concentrating on the last two people who were emerging from the wagon, they would be the last ones arriving tonight. The two people were Lord Leonard Aster and his wife, Lady Louise Aster. These two elders were James's grandparents on his mother's side, yet as far as he could remember, he had always referred to them as "Lord and Lady Aster", not "grandfather" or "grandmother". As far as James knew, Lady Aster is the only woman other than his mother, who was quite possibly permitted, that was ever allowed in the special "business meetings". James's mother, Molly Aster Darling, died about two years after he was born from the stress and sicknesses resulting from giving birth to James (at least, as the cause was hidden and never talked about or specified, this is what James assumes, but you know what they say about assumptions), otherwise she might also be in the meetings, though he had no way of knowing. His father always claimed that the people in the meeting were his top business partners and advisors, but James knew better. What would a sailor and an Egyptian have to do with a rich lord like George Darling? Not to mention a woman! (Not that James didn't like those people, nor was he against women having important roles in society as some were.)

Lord Aster was a sensible man, though old, who had a peculiar way of looking at things, but he was likable and, beside the point, was James's grandfather. They got along quite well and played chess often, as the Asters only lived a few blocks away (even so, they always managed to be the last to arrive at the meetings). Lord Aster was a man of many secrets, which, anyone could tell by looking at his determined and slightly tired face, he intended stay secret. His wife was also quite strange, though in a much different way. She, like her husband, had known the four boys Sir James, Mr. Ted, Lord Thomas, and Sir Prentiss since they were lads, and they were like parents to the young men. She walked among all these accomplished and successful men with an air of motherly superiority and they respected her as much, or more than, her husband. James suspected this was because they had all been friends with his mother and, as she was Molly's mother, they respected her. She was a kind woman, and as for a grandmother, she was very easy to talk to and had been like a second, and really the only, mother to him for his entire life, despite their more formal than familial relationship.

James then greeted the last guests properly and told them that they were to eat supper before the meeting and ushered them in. His father was sitting at the head of the table already and next to him was an empty chair that stayed empty at all times in honor of James's mother. The rest of the guests arranged themselves in the other chairs and James sat in the seat that was left. He was sitting between Alf and Sir James. He wasn't completely sure that this was really luck or just the fact that the others sat this way as a courtesy towards James who, admittedly, hated the stiff and quiet atmosphere that always came before a meeting, be it regular or not. Either way, James felt satisfied, though he did notice that the everybody's attitude was especially tense this time, with what he sensed was excitement, _like one would feel before meeting an old friend, _James noted mentally.

James's thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Ted, who was shouting. "Excellent," he exclaimed, "absolutely delicious!" George was smiling, used to his old friend's love for good food.

"I thought you might be a little hungry from the long, hard journey you had to endure to get here," his father said. Everyone laughed, including Mr. Ted, for his own estate was only about 2.5 kilometers away and he had traveled comfortably in a cushioned wagon seat during the entire trip.

The rest of the meal passed with mostly silence and occasionally some neutral conversation. This was half because the food was so good, and half because the guests were more anxious than usual to get on with the meeting.

When the meal was finally finished, and everyone had eaten all that they could eat, Mr. Ted left to "thank the chef" for the delicious food, but this was not to be misinterpreted, as he would never cheat on his wife. Everybody else went to find something to do while they waited for the announcement that the meeting was to begin. Just then, James heard a knock at the front door and went to answer it.

* * *

He gave a slight cry of happy surprise to see Bakari, the Egyptian, standing in the doorway looking slightly flushed and a little out of breath. He was still wearing the same odd foreigner clothing, and, though he is old, he was still as healthy looking as ever.

"Greetings," said Bakari, slightly breathless, "has the meeting started yet?"

"No," replied James, "but you missed supper and right now everybody is waiting for the meeting to start." Bakari looked relieved, and James continued filling him in. "They will all be happy to see that you are here, and everyone but you has already arrived."

Bakari nodded his thanks, went to rest in one of the living room chairs, and was greeted by Lord Darling and his other guests. _I wonder why he's so worn out, _thought James, eyeing the sweaty horse that was the proof that he had ridden hard to get here in time. Even though he was supposed to have some business he had to take care of in Egypt, he was here. _Strange, _thought James, but just as well, he liked Bakari, so he didn't ponder on it for to long.

James noticed that his father was uncharacteristically impatient, even as he tried to hide it. Mr. Darling was glancing at the front door or out the window towards the front gate, like he was waiting for someone to come. _But all of the guests have already arrived, _thought James, and dismissed it as his imagination when his father called for the meeting to start.

Ta-da! The end of chapter uno! That wasn't so bad was it? You loved it, didn't you? You want to read more, right? If you answered yes to any of these questions, thank you so much! And regardless of your answers to these questions, please review!

Btw, sorry if this sucks, I wrote it a looong time ago, back when I was in sixth grade so yeah, plz review regardless!


	2. the climb and fall

that's right everybody, second chapter is out already! i know, right? amazing! anyways, a few things, umm, oh yeah, i forgot to put the name of the first chapter in the chapter name area so fyi its called: the guests deep, right? yeah and also, umm does anyone have any preferences concerning James's eye color? i know that's a weird question but i like describing eyes which you might notice later and i cant decide what color to make his, just so you know, his moms were green and his dads were, well the given description is dark, which i happen to interpret as meaning dark brown or something like that, just as a note, fanfiction completely disregard whether the gene is dominant or not, so feel free to sugest rainbow colored with polka dots if you so wish, doesn't mean i'll listen :)

James's father instructed him to lead the guests to the meeting room. James noticed that his father was still acting strange.

"Is there something wrong?" asked James.

George Darling looked up, clearly waking from a daze, "What? Oh, no. Nothing is wrong." Then he smiled at James with such a fake smile that James normally would've laughed out loud if he weren't so worried. He decided that there was definitely something wrong, and he suspected that it was because of the topic that was to be discussed during this meeting. _All the more reason to want to observe this particular meeting, _noted James, as he headed around to the back of the main house. He found his equipment right where he had left it, hidden behind a bush in the back garden that his mother used to attend. Now the garden was left alone in memory of his mother, though George Darling had decided to allow the gardener to it every other week to keep it from looking terrible or fading away behind the ugly weeds which would be inevitable without upkeep. James was going to climb the wall of the meeting room.

James had been planning this ever since he had discovered that the building where the business meetings were held had a balcony. The "equipment" James had brought included gardening gloves, a climbing rope that had a hook attached to one end of it, and some socks. The garden gloves were so that his hands wouldn't get rope burn if he slipped while climbing, the socks were what he would wear instead of shoes so that he wouldn't be heard while walking across the balcony to the door. The rope he had borrowed from a friend whose father was a fisherman as a side job (his father married into money, before that, being a fisherman was his job and how he made a living; now, it is unnecessary but he still enjoys it, just in case you were wondering). This boy, Leo, was older than James by three years and also happened to be a very capable climber. Leo taught James everything he knew about climbing, and James was a very quick learner.

"It's easy," Leo had said, "once you get the hang of it." _Leo was right, _James had thought when he was practicing climbing on a wall that was secluded during the day, so that no one would find him and tell his father about it. If he had gotten caught while practicing, his father would probably guess what it was for and tell Mr. Johnson, James's kind, but strict and very loyal to his father, mentor, to lock him in his room until the meeting was over. This was also a possibility if the gardener found his equipment and told his father about it. Despite James's worries, neither of these things happened and the time to put his equipment and newly acquired climbing skills to the test had finally come!

On the building where the meeting is held, there is one balcony at the front and another at the back. Each balcony has a iron fence with a spiral design going around the edge of it to prevent any accidents from happening. The balconies themselves were mainly for decoration, though George Darling had loved astronomy ever since he was a lad and, in his free time, he could sometimes be found looking through his telescope up at the sky (time of day didn't really seem to matter, because he is up there, be it day or night). Mr. Darling had tried to show James what astronomy was and how it was able to catch a person's attention so much so that they become utterly obsessed with it and absorbed in ti and only it (hint hint, George Darling), but James did not share any of his father's love for the mysterious space outside of our world. This was, as George often said in a heartbroken manner (for more reasons than one), one of the many things James had in common with his mother.

James was going to use the balcony at the back of the building to enter, of course. And so, the tedious work of climbing a wall with a rope, a claw, gloves, and a pair of socks begins. James was a natural climber, and, though he probably didn't know it at the time, had a great natural athletic ability. This, combined with hours of practice and near unrivaled tenacity, made the climb possible. Even so, he had to be careful because some repairs were being done on the balcony and its surrounding safety fence as a result of some rainstorms. It wasn't the rain that did the damage, though. It was the wind.

James had to be careful where he threw the hook because if he hooked on to a part that was being repaired, then he would fall, most likely bringing the entire balcony on top of him, with the noise drawing unwanted attention and a punishment or five. He really needn't worry though, for he arrived safely at the balcony and started towards the spot furthest away from the people in the meeting, but close enough to hear what they were saying. There was no fence where he was standing, and even though he had absolute confidence in his own balance, he wasn't so sure about the damaged balcony, so he took what he considered to be the appropriate safety measures.

Then again, he didn't take into account the possibility that anyone could startle him enough to warrant him falling off the balcony. He changed his opinion while he was falling. James had seen someone sitting in "his" chair, and he didn't even know the unusual looking boy, yes, boy, as in, child aka youngster aka lad. The main thought going through his head besides the usual and expected 'life flashes before your eyes' and 'I wonder who might try to catch me' thoughts, was what in the hell is going on?

yeah, so, not sure if i can say hell when i rated this K+ but heck sounded kinda dumb, soo, if anyone is reading this and is like, ten or something, one, you prolly dont have permission to be on this site anyways, and two, lucky you, you got to see a "bad word" as my lil bro calls them, just dont tell your parents (i don t take responsibility for any action those reading this take, lil disclaimer there, moving on) yaaay! second chappie out in like three days or somthin, im sooo proud of me, sort of, yeah . . . review!  
-acquilina :)


	3. the stranger boy

Right, so, not much to say, hope whoever's reading this is enjoying it! yeah, that's pretty much it . . .

ch 3 (longest ch so far) begin!

James had never been afraid of heights, but as he fell, he told himself that his feet were never leaving the ground again unless absolutely necessary. As he fell, he briefly saw the surprised look on all of the guests' faces, except, James noticed, his father and the stranger boy. They looked quite calm, almost as if they had expected him. As his father nodded toward the strange boy, James passed out and, didn't see who, if anyone, was trying to catch him or how.

* * *

When James woke up, he was slightly disoriented, but he noticed that he wasn't hurt anywhere. _For the moment anyway, _remembered James, thinking of the punishment he was most likely going to receive from his father very soon. Then he noticed that he wasn't alone. The stranger boy was in his room staring at him with huge, and startlingly pretty, blue eyes. Though, to James, they looked much older and wiser than the stranger boy's appearance suggested. James noticed that the boy's eyelashes were longer than any he'd ever seen. He also had unkempt flaming orange-red hair that possessed a brilliant shining quality that James had never seen before.

"Are you awake?" asked the stranger boy. James noticed that the boy had a peasant's accent and he was even more confused. Just as he was about to ask the stranger boy what was going on, he left the room. He returned very quickly, though, and brought James's father with him.

"See," said the stranger boy with long eyelashes, "I told ya he was awake." George Darling was hiding his emotions well, but the stranger boy said, "He was worried sick 'bout you while you was asleep." _Could've fooled me,_ thought James. His father was showing no emotion at all except a controlled anger, but when the stranger boy spoke, he turned a bright red that James had never seen on his father's face. Now James was extremely confused. Why was his father acting so familiar with this stranger boy? And why did the stranger boy act like he had known George for a long time? And, most of all, why had James seen this peasant stranger boy sitting in what he had imagined was "his" chair (despite the fact that he had realized it probably wasn't his chair)? Why was he even in the meeting in the first place? He looked only about three or four years older than James, if you were being generous, who was ten.

"James," said his father, "I know you probably have a lot of questions right now, and I promise we'll answer them soon, but, first of all, this is Peter Pan."

"Hello," said Peter Pan, very politely.

James knew he was looking at him in an extremely rude way, but he couldn't help it. Among the other strange things James had noticed earlier, he now realized that this "Peter Pan" was wearing rags that were filthy and torn. Suddenly, Peter Pan laughed out loud, surprising James. His laugh was a beautiful ringing sound that was very pleasant to hear. He ignored that thought and tried to pay attention to what Peter Pan was saying.

He was smiling as he said, with laughter in his eyes, "That's exactly the way your father looked at me the first time we met each other! Like I was some kind of peasant rat who lives on the streets! Not that that's entirely untrue, mind you." This caused George to blush yet again. Then Peter said, speaking to James's father, "Looks just like his ma, don't 'e?" His father nodded in agreement as he looked over at James.

This caused James even more confusion. How did this stranger boy know his mother? Even he didn't even know her, or at least remember her. What's more, people were always telling him he looked like his father, which was undeniably true, and avoided mentioning his mother around him at all. Quite strange as well was the fact that his father was agreeing with him. He found it quite refreshing for this Peter kid to be so blunt, but then he remembered that he was trying NOT to like him.

"Father," said James in confused frustration, "why do you associate with this orphan-like, illiterate peasant?" James realized he had shouted.

"James," shouted his father, obviously extremely enraged by James's outburst, "how dare—"

Peter interrupted his father laughing, "No," he said, "it's a'ight."

"But Peter," said James's father.

"It's _alright_," said Peter more firmly. Then he looked at James and smiled at his, what was most likely frustrated and confused, expression. He did think that the name Peter Pan sounded familiar, though.

"I'm actually fluent in Egyptian, Birdwoman, Molluskan, the language of Rundoon, Porpoise, and I am learning Bear and Wolf right now." As he said this, he spoke with none of the peasant accent he had had before. James realized he must have been speaking in a way that would be most comfortable to him. Peter was grinning at James's gaping mouth. "I know," he said, "hard to believe at first right?" For the record, James wasn't at all prepared to believe anything this Peter Pan character said, especially if it all sounded fantasy, I mean, who ever heard of someone speaking to a wolf, porpoise (James did not even know what a porpoise was), or a bear? James did not recognize the language Molluskan at all, and he seriously doubted that this strange boy had, or even could, learn the language of Rundoon, which was a country way across the ocean. James himself had only learned some, and he did not think that he could hold a decent conversation.

"Oh, and of course the basic languages of Italian, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, German, Russian, and all of the different African and Native American dialects," continued Peter Pan. James definitely was not going to believe that it was possible for a child of about thirteen years to learn how to speak so many different languages.

"I almost forgot –"

"Peter!" interrupted George Darling, "It would take you forever and two days to list all the languages you've learned, and I don't think James would believe you unless you spoke in every single one of them. (He is absolutely correct!) Plus," he added, "we have more important things to talk about." To James he said, "All the languages he listed he can speak, plus more that he didn't list." Seeing James's doubtful face, he said, "He's very good with languages."

"By the way," said Peter, cutting in, "you were right about me being an orphan." James looked up quickly, and he could tell that when he had insulted Peter he had brought back some bad memories that needn't be remembered. Suddenly, James had an unreasonable and irresistible urge to apologize for what he had said.

"I'm sorr -," began James, but right then, Louise Aster burst into the room with tears in her eyes. James realized, and could tell Peter already knew, that she had been listening outside the door.

"Peter!" she shouted, half crying, "you do to have parents!" As Peter looked away with obvious discomfort, James noticed that what Lady Aster said had been more of a demanding question, than a factual statement.

"No, Mum, no real parents." Then he added thoughtfully and decisively, "jes' one real wonderful mum and pa," lapsing back into his accent. James wondered at the fact that Peter called Lady Aster his "mum" when they obviously weren't related and Peter was obviously to young to be her real son, not to mention the fact that they looked nothing alike. What had brought those two so close together? He knew Peter had said what he said to comfort Lady Aster but James sensed that all Peter had said was fact to both himself and the Lady, and he shook his head in wonder and knew that the look on his own face was probably dumbfounded shock while he stared open-mouthed, watching as the usually elegant and distant woman he loved got on her knees and hugged this strange boy that had suddenly come into his life. She's crying, he realized. It was obvious that they were both comforting each other in that embrace. Once she had calmed down enough to realize that she had just caused a scene, embarrassed, the Lady Aster took her leave, saying something about how she needed to help clean up after dinner.

During this scene, James had realized that his father had been studying him. James realized that he had been interrupted before he could finish apologizing.

"Peter, I'm sorry about before." His father frowned at him, and even James could hear how insincere his apology had sounded. George stopped frowning when Peter said, "S' okay, I'm used to it," in his peasant accent while smiling secretly up at George, like the two of them were sharing some kind of secret. James just then realized that Peter knew his own father way better than James probably ever would.

"So," began his father, "the first thing you should know is the real circumstances of your mothers death." As he said this, Peter's eyes widened in horror. "No!" he shouted, and James realized that this was the first time he had heard or seen Peter express any kind of genuine emotion.

George Darling was frowning at Peter. "We have to tell him something, or do you think he'll just sit around waiting for answers. He might even try another stunt like this again!" But Peter wasn't going to listen, "Two more years, until he is twelve, that is what you promised!"

Mr. Darling was obviously ignoring that fact and thinking of a response. Worried that they were going to come to blows, James decided to step in. "Two more years, and then what?"

Peter looked at him straight in the eye as he said, "Then you will learn things beyond your wildest imagination, but you are not yet old enough." Peter didn't look that much older than himself, but James decided what he was learning was more important than pointing out age differences. He tried to sort out what Peter was saying.

"But your father," Peter looked pointedly at George, "doesn't agree with me that we should wait."

"What changed his mind?" James was almost afraid to ask, but he was even more afraid not to know the answer. "Oh, he thinks that now that you've seen me we should just tell you everything." Then he smiled, "Molly always did like to comment on the fact that your father can be very stupid sometimes." As his father sputtered in indignation, James tried to ignore the strange fact that this Peter Pan boy seemed to know his mother like an old friend, and, it seemed, almost better than his father did.

"Can I ask one question?" James inquired, interrupting the argument that had started while he had been thinking.

"Sure," said his father, "go ahead."

"Why am I uninjured after I fell off the balcony?"

Peter smiled at James sincerely for the first time and said, "I caught you."

James started to laugh, but then stopped, realizing that Peter was serious.

George said, quite seriously, "You now owe your life to one Peter Pan." James was stunned into silence; he had assumed that maybe Alf or Sir James had caught him. He now knew that he had been horribly mistaken.

* * *

"Okay," said James, trying to keep his calm after this shock, "then what did you mean about the real circumstances of Mother's death? I had always thought that she died because she gave birth to me!" James realized that he had unintentionally blurted his fears out loud and quickly shut his mouth and looked up, interested, but also afraid of their reactions. James first looked at Peter, whose face was accepting but not shocked. He then looked at his father. Why, he looks like he is about to cry! His face mirrored Peter's shocked one, but he also looked slightly horrified.

"Well," stated Peter calmly, as he was the first to recover, "I guess we'ave to tell'im some now, don't we George?" George nodded.

"I still think we should hold off on tellin' 'im 'bout Molly, so," he turned to James, "I'll answer questions that I think you should know the answer to, while George will attend to his many concerned and worried guests." As George started to protest, Peter looked at him sternly, and to James it was clear that Peter was the one in charge, which came as a shock, but considering everything else that had happened, he didn't think anyone could surprise him anymore. There he goes with his ignorance again.

"Don't worry," Peter was reassuring his father, "you'll get your turn and I promise not to corrupt your child." His father finally nodded, but continued to hesitate, still looking a little concerned. "Go, before I make you!" Peter shouted and, startled, James looked at Peter, who was now looking much older and more powerful than before. George nodded again, and glanced at James before he left.

"Finally!" sighed Peter. He looked at James with his big eyes and said, "First o'all, Tink, you can come out." James looked around for someone, but when he didn't see anyone, he looked back at Peter questioningly. What he saw made him catch his breath. A fairy-like creature was flying from under Peter's shirt to sit on top of Peter's head. It, or she, made a noise that sounded like bells, and though James couldn't tell what she said, for it was obviously speaking to Peter, Peter laughed and said, "He does not! He's George's son!" This obviously didn't help the situation as she chimed something else. Peter laughed again and said, "You need t'learn t'be more forgiving! He's also Molly's son." At the mention of Molly, the fairy, or whatever it was, obviously calmed down. She chimed something, settled down, and fell asleep, and Peter laughed again, then turned his attention back to James.

"Could you understand her?" asked Peter. James shook his head, and Peter, obviously disappointed, said, "Neither can your father, nor could your mother, so don't feel bad? Actually," said Peter with some thought, "Pa, I mean Lord Aster," he hastily corrected himself, glancing at James, "is the only other person that I know 'sides me as can understand her. Irritated the hell out of Moll-, I mean, your Ma." James looked up quickly, surprised at this piece of knowledge.

Peter was obviously distracted, but he looked at James and told him, "If there's anything you want to know, just ask."

"Why do you know so many languages even though you only look about three years older than me?" James blurted, even though he had wanted to ask other things, this was what was bothering him the most.

Peter looked surprised, but smiled and said, "Even though you may not believe me because I look like this, I'm actually only a little less than a year younger than your father." James was, once again, shocked into silence by this strange boy. "To elaborate," Peter continued, "my body doesn't age. But," he said more seriously, "that don't mean that my mind and soul can't age and it also don't mean I can't be killed, and thus," he smiled deviously, "you should take that into account and treat me with the same amount of respect as you do your father." James just rolled his eyes, even though he was still shocked.

"Okay, so why do you switch from a peasant accent to a Lord's accent when you speak?" asked James for his next question. He had originally intended to ask questions about his father and mother and the way Lady Aster had acted, but he found himself asking more questions about this Peter Pan than about his parents.

"Oh that, that's b'cuz I'm more comfortable with the peasant accent and I decided that you would be to, but your father doesn't like it when I talk like that so I kept switching to annoy him." He winked at James and looked so much like a child prankster that James found it even harder to believe what he had said about his age. "I can also do any accent of any class to any language I learn in any other language." Peter was about to continue when he saw that James was confused so he elaborated, "For example, I can talk in peasant-Italian with a Spanish accent, or German with a British merchant's accent. I can also do any class of any language with no accent."

"Where did you learn how to speak so many different languages?" asked James. "I travel a lot an' necessity is not only the mother of invention, but progress too," answered Peter abruptly and cryptically. James could tell that Peter didn't want to talk about his travels so he moved to a more comfortable subject and said, "Where did your clothes get so torn?" This caused Peter to lighten up as he said, "Mollusk Island." When he saw that James was confused again he said in explanation, "It's an island off the coast that's out in the middle o' nowhere in the ocean, but nobody knows 'bout it cause it's kept a secret very diligently by your father an' the Starcatchers." James was about to ask about the Starcatchers when Peter interrupted him, saying, "The Starcatchers are one o' the topics that I won't answer any questions 'bout, so don't even bother asking."

It seemed to James that Peter had a grudge against these Starcatchers and, even though he had only seen Peter slightly angry before, that was more than enough to make him decide he never wants to see it again, so he chose not to ask about that and instead he asked Peter why he didn't have any parents. Peter looked up and, smiling, said, "I should've known that you'd ask such questions 'stead of questions about your own family. If you were anyone but her child, you'd 've asked about why I knew your mother or why you father's so comfortable 'round me or heck, maybe even more 'bout Tinker Bell, which, by th'way, is another topic I won't discuss. But no, you have to go an' ask the one thing that I still don't know the correct answer to, and you manage to actually care 'bout the answer as well. I wasn't kidding y'know? When I said you resemble your Ma? You really do, though you look like your Pa." At this, James looked up at Peter, startled, and he saw that Peter looked much older than his father, and James realized then that Peter had experienced many things that James could only imagine, and probably quite a few more that he couldn't.

He continued, "By the way, your father 'as known me since he was 13 years old when your mother introduced me to 'im. I should tell you the story of when your father and I first met, but that would take too long and wouldn't be told very well cause it contains more things that I won't discuss with you, so it'd 'ave gaps. She was only 12 at the time, as was I, even if I didn't know my own age then, I also didn't know my last name then either, now that I think about it. Ted, James, Prentiss, and Thomas _still_ don't know their last names or ages." James looked up in shock at the mention of his father's friend's names and Peter elaborated saying, "They were my friends when we were lads and they still are even though they're 'all grown up' now. There seems to be a rumor that they were all orphans when they were lads, and I'm kinda wondering who started it, but oh well. Anyways, its true. Actually, we were all at the same orphanage when we were growing up. You probably don't know it but it's called St. Norbert's Home for Wayward Boys?" James shook his head, he didn't recognize the name. He was still trying to picture Sir James as one of the orphans he had seen on the street. He now regretted thinking of them as "filthy creatures" and was busy feeling sorry for his four friends when Peter interrupted his thoughts.

"Don't know it, huh? That's okay. I didn't really expect you to because it was closed down about 7 years ago, when you were around 3 years old, on the charges of selling slaves to Rundoon after they stayed at the Home for awhile." James was shocked at this and when he looked up, Peter looked sad. "Before you ask, yes, that's how I learned to speak Rundoon. It's not like I was a slave for long, only about a week, which was plently long, believe me, but I was still interested and went back later to learn their language. I'll give you the details of our escape one of these days, but that's another story that can only be told after we decide how much to tell you." Peter continued, "Oh, an' by th' way, don' you be tryin' t'feel sorry for 'em, Ted, James, Prentiss, and Thomas I mean, b'cuz they wouldn't forgive me for tellin' you 'bout them, or you, either, for worryin'!"

What Peter had said made James feel bad because he had been doing just that a minute ago. He also realized that Peter was not changing his accent back to a Lord's and hadn't since his father left. _He must have been telling the truth about doing that switching back and forth just to annoy father, _thought James. He told himself to pay attention. Peter Pan had started talking again.

"The reason why I get upset when I talk 'bout this is cause I knew 'bout the slave trading fer years, but it wasn't 'til 7 years ago that Pa, I mean Lord Aster, an' I could do anything about it, so the children were still being sold." James realized that he had just called Lord Aster "Pa" again.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" said Peter looking up at James.

"Call Lord Aster Pa, and Lady Aster Ma?" Peter looked relieved for a change of subject and answered, "Oh that, its jes that since Molly died, whenever I'm in London and visit, they insist that I call'em that. It probably helps that I really do think 'bout them as my parents, and they think I'm a kind of son to them, tool. It also helps that I knew Molly and also most, if not all, the secrets they share, so they can talk openly in front o' me." _He smiles a lot when he talks of Mother,_ thought James, slightly annoyed by the fact. Then he stopped himself, he was jealous of this boy just because he knew his parents, and he needn't be because he is their son, not just a friend, like this stranger is.

"Any other, more exciting questions for me?" Peter asked, interrupting James's thoughts.

James looked up and Peter explained, "I don't have a lot of free time and I have to leave to, uh, run some errands fer Pa and your father so this will be one of the few chances fer you t'learn the truth 'bout certain things that only Molly and I knew."

James was shocked. How could a kid barely two years older than him run errands for Lords? But then he remembered the age thing and decided that, for now, he could try to believe it. He also kind of doubted the fact that Peter would run errands for anyone unless he thought it was important or necessary.

"Go on," Peter encouraged, "ask away."

"Okay, what did you mean by things that only you and my mother knew?" James asked slowly, wondering if it was the right question to ask or not. He was even more unsure when he saw Peter's expression. It was an empty stare, as if Peter had left and only his body was sitting there, like a shell.

The end, but only of the ch, not the whole story, and yes, i know i have to work on writing a peasants accent, and also, if i encroached on te characters doing something extremey un europe-y, then plz tell me in the reviews!  
Which brings me to my next point, please review! :)


	4. questions in the form of answers

Hey, i'm back, finally . . . yeah, sorry bout that, but the last ch was over 4,000 words so that counts for something right? anyway, this one is shorter, but moves the story along, which i thought was good? never mind, but i hope you enjoy. I got a few reviews so thanks so much. that actually kind of surprised me because i know this isn't one of the most read genres or anything so thanks so much and i'm gonna shut up now so you can read, hope you like it!

To tell the truth, Peter was nervous! He had just agreed to answer questions that only one other person in the world knew about, and she was, well, gone and never coming back, and he was telling all this to her son! _What a weird way to end the day_, thought Peter, sarcastically. _Oh well, had to do this sometime so might it might as well be now._ This boy of hers, James, reminded him of her more and more, the more he spent time with him. George had warned him about this, but Peter had shrugged it off, thinking that it wasn't a big deal and wouldn't affect him much. But this boy was such a perfect combined reflection of George and Molly that it scared him, and George probably didn't even realize it, at least not fully. Of course, there was also James, the boy, in there, but you could easily tell who his parents were.

The kid, James, was fidgeting in his seat, and Peter realized that he had been staring, something that, since the change, had bothered everyone except Molly for some reason, including her son and "Sir" James (even though it had been a few years, Peter still wasn't used to the fact that his best friend had become a knight, but then, so had he - though it was a well-kept secret – wouldn't do for people to think a twelve-year old boy could become one of the Queen's knights). He realized that he had started to stare again, and looked down as he tried to think of an easy answer to the lad's question, which was, not easy.

"Y'know," Peter began "secrets that you'd only tell your most trusted person or best friend."

"Like what?"

"Like the circumstances under which we met or how we got to know each other or why she did what she did. In fact, only I have the true story to that one, but I won't be telling that to nobody, including her husband or her son, anytime soon," he said in a sort of warning tone, "prolly never, it was a soul promise, y'know."

"What's a soul promise?" asked James.

"A soul promise is just that, a promise from your soul. It is also a secret that ya keep even at the expense of anythin' or everythin' in the universe, including yourself, your shadow, and your soul, as well as anyone else's. Don't tell your father that I mentioned this, though, as it is something, sometimes I think the only thing, that he wants to keep you from learning about, or actually doing. In fact, I think that it would be best that you don't tell him nothing we talked about, specially since I don't want to have him mad at me, or worse, me mad at him, because that's just no fun!"

It was mostly fear of Peter getting angry, partly fear of his dad getting angry, and also the idea of them fighting over something so stupid and being serious about it that made him nod his head in agreement and say, "I promise."

But when he said that, Peter shook his head and said, "Don't make promises so easy, specially ones you can't keep." When James frowned at this Peter sighed and asked him, "Have you ever tried to keep a secret from your Pa?" When James nodded he continued, "Have you ever succeeded if it was somethin' George wanted to know?" James shook his head, now that Peter had mentioned it, it was only the unimportant stuff that James ever got away with, excluding the whole sneak into the meeting thing. All Peter said this time was "Don't ever underestimate nobody, especially that father of yours." Then he smiled and asked if James had another question for him.

"Well," James began, "why is this meeting thing that Father holds about once a month so important and so different than all the other ones, and what is the point of all this lying to me, and why haven't I ever seen you before, and who are you and . . ."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I did say a question right? As in, one at a time? So let's start with the first one you asked: 'why is the meeting so important and different than the others?' First of all, I'm slightly impressed that you figured out that they are once a month, but I seeing as you are Molly's, I mean George's son, it isn't wholly unexpected." He smiled apologetically, then continued, "The meetings are important 'cause each person in these particular meeting affects one of the nine sections that we divided the world enable to make it easier to keep track of everything. I represent those that are, well, different and will not report to anyone but me or someone I know that is not part of the main nine, but my lob is a bit more complicated than the others' already plenty complicated jobs. I'm willing to go into more detail if you want to know, but I'll have to leave some stuff out due to the fact that there are certain things which I don't think you should be aware of at the moment, possibly ever. But, to answer your question, they are important and different from the others because their attendance includes very influential people who affect their area of the world, and the meetings in which they attend plan out the next steps. This causes the meetings to be unnecessarily long in my opinion, but whatever works, right?" James smiled at the laid back attitude despite the sheer impossibility of what he was hearing. His father and his friends were in charge of the world? _There mst be something more specific to it,_ he thought.

"In the civilized world, those nine people who you and I consider as close as family and closer, have a direct effect on the fate of the entire population of the planet. Of course, it has to do with somethings that I am not going to tell you about just yet," _that might be what I need to hear,_ James thought, "But in short, I mostly keep them in line, make sure everything is well-balanced and report what the other, more underground, groups tell me. Basically, I'm the goatherd of all of the people in the 'business meetings, and I keep the meetings flowing.'" Even though James didn't know what exactly a "goatherd" was, he could definitely understand the reason Peter's eyes looked so old and tired now. He was still having trouble with the whole concept of Peter being only a year younger than his dad so imagining that this person who looked so much like a boy of twelve was the reason the powers of the world were in balance was only slightly challenging, he expected it would really hit him later on, after it had all sunk in. "I'll maybe explain that in more depth later, but on to your second question." Peter paused for a second as he could tell that James, even with all his will, was having trouble believing all that he had just filled him in on.

"If you think that's mind blowing, then just think of what you'll learn once I think you're ready to hear me tell you anythin' you want me to, with no filters! Right, back to your second question, which, if I'm not mistaken, was: what is the point of all this lying to me? That one's easy. This is going to sound cheesy, but everyone put in their best effort to lie to you, so that they could protect you, and if you ask me, they did a pretty good job of it, so there really isn't any reason to be mad at them, unless you're into holding grudges."

James was still trying to process it all, Peter could tell, but he had to do this quickly and finish his errand in England, then, hopefully convince George that telling his son everything now would ruin "it" for him. He could always do "that" to George but he really didn't want to. However, it might become a necessity. He could also suggest that he take James to Mollusk Island for a two year term of life lessons with Fighting Prawn and have him learn the language, or he could take James to Egypt for two years to let him learn Egyptian and the ways of Egypt from Bakari, whom James already knew. Another possibility was to do both, but only for one year each. Yes, that would probably work, but he had to convince George first.

"Um," said James, interrupting his thoughts, "will you answer the other questions or just keep staring at me?" Peter realized that he had been staring, again. He sighed, oh well.

"Sure," said Peter, "your third question was: why haven't you ever seen me before, right?" James nodded. "Well, that's mostly because I didn't want you to see me," Peter answered matter-of-factly, "but also because you didn't need to see me. Truthfully, you still don't, but that is an argument that is to be held later, between your father and I." Peter had decided to completely switch off his peasant accent some time ago, but he didn't think James had noticed. He supposed that he wouldn't notice either if he was being told this for the first time. As a matter of fact, he hadn't cared at all about the way she talked when he had first heard the story from Molly.

"And the last question out of that group," Peter added hastily as James looked up, startled; a smart boy, Molly's child, " was: who am I, but I'm afraid I don't know how to answer that one. Do you want my autobiography?" The boy was looking at him weird again, but he actually didn't know the answer to that one.

James answered, "Well, like what have you been doing since you left Rundoon and stuff like that." Peter just stared at him (again). Leave it to Molly's child to want to know more about Peter than about his own family. "Let's see," Peter began, "well, your probably not going to believe any of this unless I show you proof, but maybe you will because your father told you that everything I tell you is true, which it is." The boy was listening intently, Peter noticed, so ready to absorb everything that Peter said and decide whether or not he believed it later. Peter sighed, that was George's blood running through this boy. _Oh well, _thought Peter_, here goes nothing._ "When I was a boy, as I already told you I was raised in an orphanage," James nodded, "there were a bunch of other boys living there including Me, Tubby Ted, James, Prentiss, and Thomas, none of them holding the titles they possess nowadays." Peter could tell that James had already guessed this, so he continued. "I was a leader of sorts for all the boys there, partly because I lived there my whole life and partly because I could spit the farthest." Peter smiled at James's confused face. "That was always how the leader was decided, because, well, what else could we use? Status? Rank? No, we used how far you can spit, how old you are, how long you were a resident, and how tall you were. I was the leader at a tie break based solely on a little white lie about my age, but it wasn't really because I didn't know my age so I just chose the oldest I could pass for without being suspicious." James was suppressing giggles now so Peter decided to move on to more important stuff such as facts about the orphanage. "I was droopped off at the orphanage when I was an infant and have no recollection of any birth parent except a single lullaby that, no matter who I ask, no one has ever heard. (A/N: just go with me on this whole lullaby thing, it fits with my story, its not called _fan_fiction for nothing :) End A/N) On one of my many adventures with your mother, she figured out my age and my last name, but she also found out that my parents were most likely dead or imprisoned, and after all this time I try not to get my hopes up." Now James was the one who was staring at Peter with a sad expression that Peter recognized. "I don't need a ten year old's pity so stop looking at me like that! I have gotten used to it already. Yes, there is a surprising amount of things that humans can get used to, a very surprising amount."

James was astonished at this and decided to leave that subject alone and switch to another topic, but Peter had started talking again.

"In fact, I'm thankful to the Home in some ways because in some ways they are responsible for my meeting your mother, though I still can't decide if that's a good thing or not." As he said this, he was smiling and his eyes glazed over, as if he was remembering something from a distant past. James was mulling this over when he saw Peter get an anxious expression and shift a little. This made him slightly worried because he didn't want the q and a session to be over with just yet.

Peter looked up suddenly and said "James, I know you probably have even more questions than before we started but we have to leave, soon. I wasn't originally going to take you but I will notify your father when I deem it safe." This caused James's confusion, which was already sky high, to multiply tenfold. He also noticed that, what was it, Tinker Bell, was up and aware instead of lazing around on top of Peter's head.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a large bang that came from outside James's room. Peter immediately went alert and the fairy woke up. Peter whispered something to her while staring at James with those unnervingly bright, almost-glowing blue eyes of his. James had noticed him doing that several times during their conversation and he knew that Peter knew it made him uncomfortable, he just didn't know why it made him so uneasy. It made him think that Peter was seeing into his soul and reading his heart and mind, which is something that is extremely personal and not to be disturbed by anyone, in James's opinion.

The fairy, no, James corrected himself, bird-woman, left his room by way of the window and Peter stood up.

"Let's go," said Peter. He paused slightly and added, "You might be about to see some things that your mind won't believe, but your eyes don't lie. I will explain this all later, as soon as we get to the island." He grimaced as there were more noises outside, "It seems you had some more guests, of the uninvited sort."

James looked up at him, startled, as he heard even more noises from inside the house. He was wondering what the big deal when Peter grabbed his hand pulled him toward the window and jumped.

James screamed, and, for the second time in a span of 10 hours, almost wet himself. But what were you expecting from a person that was forced to jump out of a three-story building, really?

so, any good? ch 4 officially complete and writer's block recovered from, hopefully. Also, a little side note, the story will vary from the minor details of the original book and there will be some OCs coming up soon, people that peter has met in the 40 some years since the third starcatchers book, cuz, i mean really, he had to have made some new friends along the way, right? doesn't matter, he did for the sake of the plot line :) Please review and i hope you enjoy it!  
-acquilina :)


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